Very disappointed...
 

:mad:ok guys, I don't usually do this, but in this case, i have spent way too much $$$ to let this slide. Tom, i'm sorry, but i have contacted you several times, and usually your replies are within hours, its been 3 days... i wonder why?....

I have purchased an 06 Cluster from TOMs_Z (120$ USD), who was going to swap it with my 03 Cluster (that i sent him). Charged me 100$ USD. I also paid like 50$+ USD for pigtails off ebay.

Now, the job i got in return? .... my electrician's wording "this guy butchered it... and you paid for this?"

It honestly, looked ilke a dog's breakfast and one of the members here DID AN EXCELLENT JOB compared to this. Not to mention, it didn't even work properly when i received it!! Lights flashing all over the place. I had to resolder so many of the points myself.

Then after everything was done, the needles didnt' work!! After attempting to reseat them properly, I finally got it working to a certain degree... now, why am i so upset?

NO ****en manual mode .... The communication was very clear, and everything was supposed to be working, as promised. It didn't.... I have an automatic without manual mode... From the first message I sent to TOM, he knew the make, model, year, etc. If he had told me that the gauges don't work properly, I wouldn't have spent over 500$ CDN (including shipping charges).

After looking at all this, I could've done this myself, but i figured, someone has already done it, could do a better job, which is why i asked him.

List of problems:

No manual mode, when shifted from D-> tiptronic mode, it still displays/stays on Drive.

No SLIP Light indicator

Airbag Light stays on

Check Engine light comes on after driving the car for about 20 miles. When I turn off the car, i CANNOT reset the light right away. I have to keep it in park for about a few minutes (wierd?)

-------------------------------------

now, for those of you who have attempted this, are you doing this for an automatic? if so, do you have the same problems? I could reallly use your help, since I haven't received a word from TOM for the past 4 days.

and oh ya, to help me out... he didn't put repair so, i got charged duty when i got my gauges back.

I'll be attempting to fix all of the problems by trial and error....any help would be greatly appreciated...

FIRST, i got to go buy another gauge since, it could be the problem as well. thanks Tom.

seriously, you said everything worked.... ... but, did you actually test it out on an automatic car with all the functions?

Hey T7n7,

Tom is on VAC. I'm sure he'll get back with you as soon as he is back in town.

Thanks Guys!
-WoW

thanks, i'll be patient. :)

Refund sent as per your request.

1. my car is a US CAR (which i have already told you in the emails several times)

2. de-soldered and put back? not something you mentioned or something i expected considering i paid you to solder it in the first place. the heat shrinking (the pics below), electrical tape, etc. was EXPECTED!! if i was to get a paintjob, i could paint it myself or bring it to someone who knows how to do it and pay them. but when they give me the same type of job i could've done myself, your expecting me to be calm? right.

3. measly 100$? lol.... lets do some math.
labour: 100$ USD for gauges
50$ USD for CLOCKWORK (oh you forgot about the 50$?)
115$ USD for a CLOCK m45 cluster (clock wasn't sold seperately)
50$ USD for pigtails
120$ USD for your gauges which were not coupe gauges, or i would've hunted
for coupe gauges myself. i'm sure g35x with snow, ras, awd have different wiring
200$ USD for shipping back and forth including the duties since you didn't mark
repair

not to mention the weeks without driving the car, problem solving the ****en gauge when i received it and had no clue where to begin since you were on vacation. *you dont' need to tell me that your going on vacation but you could've atleast gave me a heads up so should i have a problem, i can patiently wait until you come back*

so add that up, with all the things that went wrong and MAYBE, just MAYBE you might have an idea of how i felt.

4. you tested your setup on a 6MT, but you clearly know, my car is an AUTOMATIC which i told you a million times. you even said, you tested it on an automatic and it worked , which is why i lit the green light for everything.

5. I have to mention that i need manual mode when asking for something to work on my automatic which comes with manual mode? i'll keep that in mind next time... perhaps when i get my headlights changed, i'll let the guy know that, i need my highbeams to work.

but i did mention it, certainly after getting everything to SOMEWHAT work... since some of the wires were disconnected when i received it, thus, the speedometer not working at all and a **** load of other lights going off... not to mention, the 06 gauges you sold me dont' have proper screens between the circuit + needles so the needles get stuck..

regarding the refund, since i'm pretty understanding and i have a **** load of reasons why i'm upset, i think you should refund me 120$ USD for the gauges you sold me. your time cannot be refunded so forget the 100$... i'm sure if i get an automatic COUPE gauge, i will have better luck, not to mention, atleast the needles will work properly. what do you think?

obviously, i cannot return it, since its not combined of 2 different gauges, my car won't be drivable, i already invested my own time and more money into getting it to somewhat work without the slip light, manual mode etc. so returning the gauge is not even an option.

Listen Tom, i don't like to start any beef, you did me a favour by accepting a job that you thought would help me out, great... but when it doesn't work, i cannot pretend that you still did me a favour and forget about everything else... you need to step into my shoes.... if i can atleast get my manual mode working, i would be satisfied. perhaps the the gauges you sold me are the problem since they are from a g35x (it has ras, AWD, SNOW) and maybe the 4 wheel transmission is different then our coupes? i dunno, but any member here in Toronto, can clearly see the problems i'm going through... i'm not making any of this up.

thanks for listening. even if you were to say that you have an automatic g coupe gauge 05+, i'm ready to buy that off you (credit 120$ USD). i still believe, we can work this out.

http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/1...hardwired1.jpg
http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/688...hardwired2.jpg
ABOVE: how i expected it

http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/5854/070109119.jpg
ABOVE: how i got it (this pic was actually taken a bit after i modified it so the connections wouldn't touch each other. i hot glued it)

http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/4537/070109013.jpg
ABOVE: what i did to make it a lil better as well as resoldering some points to get it to atleast work

hey man, maybe i kinda bursted ...sorry. i just want my manual mode to work and i think it has to do with the gauges.... any help would be great. thanks

Thanks for cleaning up the gauge wiring, but I would have done that here. Cleaning it up that way and then shipping made me afraid that the shipping would pull some of the contacts off, at least that is the experience the OP is having with his cluster.

So good for you for cleaning it up. Since you have the wrong gauge, I'll just credited you the $120. You can even keep the gauge, since it isnt worth the headache...if you happen to find someone that needs one, then sell it and give me the $ back at some point in the future.

Like I said the intention was to help, not to give you or me a headache.

hey Tom, thanks 4 understanding. The refund will really help with the new gauge. i KNOW that your intention was to help, and i guess things sometimes don't turn out the way we want them to. I appreciate you taking my situation into consideration.

once the refund goes through, i'll purchase a new gauge and if that works out great, i can then sell the old one and give you the $$ or ship it back.

Just successfully finished the 05-06 gauge swap from my 06.

Although, I noticed on the wiring schematics that the VDC slip light pin is wrong? Or a maybe I could be wrong because I was in a garage doing this at 4 am in the morning. (03 Cluster ) Pin 34 is just a empty slot for me, anyone else have any input?

My advice, BE GENTLE WITH THE GLASS. I broke TWO of them! God these things break real easy.

Anyone have a solution to drilling a hole for the pin on the glass? I have an issue with lining it up.. I'll be more gentle with cracking the damn glass. (Do not force the glass to fit, that **** will break never had anything so fragile in my life!)

^^^ Good for you.....sorry I couldnt respond sooner, was on vacation for 2 weeks in Cancun (the oil didnt get there yet). I tend to stay away from helping with conversions these days (though I solder much better nowadays, LOL).

As for the pin, I dunno, I had no problems with the schematics.....for drilling the hole, my advice is to mark where you want the hole to be. I eyeballed it myself for about a half hour before deciding where I wanted the hole, and got lucky I guess. Anway, once you have that set up, take the tiniest watch screwdriver you can find, and heat the tip on your stove. Use it to make a small hole (or at least an indentation in your lens.

Once you do that, the drill will drill straight in without skipping.

Also, for the clock, I would up using clipping off the 03 connector and swapping it out for an 08 connector (the part that plugs into the clock). Then you can take your 08 clock and just use the lens and housing itself, and it will fit perfectly into the 03 bezzle. You'll have to tape it into the bezzle using 3M tape (it wont slip, had mine in for about 7 months now). This works much better than the old method of using the old housing, since you cant use the lens cover with the old way.

The bad part about that is that you have to remove the tape every time you want to adjust the clock for daylight savings. But since the old clock looks like **** it is worth the effort. Good luck!

where can i find an 05 clock? and wats the link to the DIY for the guage cluster swap?

I think this thread is somewhat of a DIY, starting from page 10 at least.

I just picked up my 05 cluster and will be making a thorough DIY with it.
I'm also going to be changing the colors of just about the whole thing.

I am selling another 2005 cluster if anyone is interested in doing this, look on the Marketplace!

*****HEADS UP******

A word of warning. I went to program a new remote (keyfob) using the instructions you've seen before with sitting in the car, locking the doors and putting the key in and out 6 times (or more) until the hazard lights flash, yada, yada, yada....

If you switch out your cluster to a new cluster it is my solid belief now that you won't be able to ever program a new keyfob and if you old keyfob breaks or goes swimming with you, you'll have to do what I think I'm going to have to do (sigh), which is to take out the new cluster, temporarily put in my old one just to get a keyfob working again (sigh)....I'm going to have to do this b/c my the "key trick" changed the "Program Key" in the car itself and now will NOT sink up to my OLD keyfob or a new keyfob...I just have a SINKING FEELING it's all do to it needing the old cluster....anyone have any .02's on this.....

Just a headsup guys.

Thanks Guys!
-WoW

I will attempt this as well, before and after the conversion.
So now I most likely will have to keep the original cluster just in case.
I dunno when i will take this on, but now it's gotta be plug n play.